SOLIDARITY:TAOISEACH BRIAN Cowen said Ireland will participate in an EU scheme to provide special bilateral loans to Greece, a pledge that follows a political agreement by euro zone countries to support Athens if necessary.
Saying he had no hesitation signing up to the pact, Mr Cowen said an important point of principle was that the costs of each participating country would be met.
While technical details remain to be worked out, he said the arrangements put in place are expected to ease pressure on Greece.
“All euro area member states will contribute and Ireland will, of course, play our part in this collective effort,” the Taoiseach said.
This was part of Ireland’s responsibility as a member of the euro zone, he added. “The mechanism agreed is first and foremost about safeguarding financial stability in the euro area: that is essential for Europe, for euro area member states and for Ireland.
“The agreement balances the essential solidarity which exists among member states and which lies at the core of the union, with the requirement that Greece, as with any member state, must meet its obligations and deliver on its commitments.”
Mr Cowen declined to speculate on what might be involved in strengthening the union’s economic governance beyond saying it would embrace a “sticks and carrots approach”.
He stressed that Greece had not asked for exceptional aid and said there was no discussion at the summit on a mooted European Monetary Fund or on the possibility of excluding euro zone members from the single currency, something raised by German chancellor Angela Merkel. Mr Cowen was speaking at the end of a summit at which EU leaders also discussed a new medium-term economic plan for the union, an initiative known as EU2020.
Although agriculture is not one of five priority policy areas set out in the plan, the Taoiseach said he persuaded EU leaders to make a reference in the summit conclusions to the importance of the agriculture and food sectors in economic policy.
This flows from the Government’s wish to ensure that the importance of these sectors is “adequately reflected” and comes ahead of crucial talks on a new multiannual budget for the EU, a process in which the union’s agriculture spending is likely to come under pressure. “All common policies, including the common agricultural policy and cohesion policy, will need to support the strategy,” the conclusions said.
“A sustainable, productive and competitive agricultural sector will make an important contribution to new strategy, considering the growth and employment potential of rural areas while ensuring fair competition.”
At the same time, EU leaders adopted targets for the wider union in respect of employment, research and development, and greenhouse gas reductions.
They said the employment rate for adults aged 20-64 should be 75 per cent by 2020, a figure that will be transposed into national targets in the coming weeks.
The same goes for the 3 per cent EU target for research and development expenditure.
